Where the crisis has been hitting

The analysis of the import-export data referred to the whole 2009 for plastics and rubber machinery, released in the latest weeks by the national statistical offices, we notice considerable two-digit decreases at import in comparison with 2008: Australia -15,4%, Czech Republic -32,5%, Colombia -34,0%, Morocco -8,0%, South Africa -23,3%, Turkey -33,1%.
Looking at the main customs codes, i.e. injection moulding machines, extruders, blow moulding machines, the average 2009/2008 trend for the purchases from abroad of the above considered countries is, respectively: -37,5%, -21,2% and +5,5%.
There are only two exceptions: Canada, that filed 2009 with a 17% uptrend on 2008, in light of increased purchases of calenders, flexographic printing machines and moulds; Ecuador that, even with a total value just exceeding 58 million dollars, recorded a 7,8% recovery at import, confirming the growing trend of the last five-year period.